Legend of Link: Sunset
by Insomniac By Choice
Summary: Chapter three arrives quite belatedly; the story's scope laid out in its entirety; the author apologizes profusely to the point of annoyance.
1. The Haunted

_Sunrises bring with them the promise of a fresh day, a clean slate, and a new beginning. They make us think that, perhaps, today will be different. Perhaps our big break will come now, we say, even though it has never come to us before. Sunrises bring hope of a better, brighter future. In that way, our birth is much like a sunrise, as are the births of others. But what of sunsets? Sunsets represent a closing, an end. Looking back at our day we realize it was just the same as any other day, nothing was improved; it quite likely got worse. In the sunset of our lives, we look back at what we did, whose lives we touched, and what it all meant. We wonder if the world was improved by our existence. We wonder if there is any purpose for our lives left; we search for it. Sometimes, though, it is our purpose that finds us. _

**Eleven Years after the Catastrophes of the Three Races**

**Valley of Jordone at the border of the Haunted Wasteland**

The silhouette of a lone soldier, kneeling at the top of a hill in front of the fading sun, could be seen for a great distance, but his actions had nothing to do with what other people watching might think of him and all to do with himself. The battle of armies was long over but his personal struggle was just beginning. Ignoring the dark and desolate landscape surrounding him, he tried with all of his remaining might to repent of his numerous sins. His helmet lay beside him and he rested his uncovered head against the hilt of the sword embedded in the ground. The action reopened a wound and blood from the gash in his forehead ran down his face, dripping onto the ground, but he appeared to take no notice. He grasped at meaning for what had taken place, but such a thing felt unattainable. He could no more put the events of the day into perspective than he could reach up and take all the stars in the sky in the palm of his hand. He implored the goddesses to give understanding and meaning to all of these events that he had witnessed and participated in, but as of yet his wishes hadn't been granted. His eyes were closed to the sights, but the smells and sounds invaded his thoughts and distracted him. They were knives pushing into his brain, torturing his sanity. His bodily wounds had been minor and many of the enemy had fallen by his hand, but every blow he struck against them was a wound against his own spirit. He looked up and wiped the blood off of his face with his hand. He stared at his palm and what covered it stared back at him. Dried blood was all over it, the blood of his victims, but he'd added his own, fresh and wet. What good would washing them do? What good could anything do now? Some moisture began to gather at the corner of his eye, and ran down his face alongside of the blood, washing nothing off, eventually running off his face and soaking into the ground next to its dark red brother. He told himself that it was just irritation from sand in his eye, but he couldn't quite make himself believe his own lie.

The retreating sunlight cast long shadows from every object in the field, warping their shapes almost unrecognizably. Torn banners flittered in the wind and the sounds of nature remained quiet except for the caw of scavenging birds awaiting the meals that were promised them. Some of the less patient ones had already begun their feast. Screams and groans could still be heard coming from the valley but as time went on, their pitiful sounds were violently cut short one at a time. A few soldiers walking around the field with daggers relieved them of their pain… and the contents of pockets. The area smelled of Death and the land wore the mark of War, a stain that the soldier knew would not wear away for some time. Blood ruined fields and crops for generations when enough of it was spilled over one ground. He'd done his part in it as well. Looking around, he wondered how much work, sweat, and tears it would take to make this land fertile again. The farmers here hadn't been part of the conflict but they'd been victims caught in the middle all the same. The truth was, those people probably didn't care who claimed the territory so long as they could continue to live and provide for their families. Most of them hadn't even gotten that.

He tried to blame the Gerudo for the deaths of those civilians. They never should have engaged the Hyrulian military in this place, but they had anyway. There were many other places the battle could have occurred that wouldn't have caused so many unnecessary casualties but instead the army had been ambushed in this little valley. He despised killing women, but he hadn't had any choice. Goddesses, their faces were right there looking at him. What choice had he had? He was just a soldier following orders and they had been trying to take his life, after all. But the looks in their eyes when he'd killed them… it was more than he could bear. It was – A hand took a hold of his shoulder and interrupted his thoughts.

"What's troubling you, footman?" he heard a voice say, "Don't you feel satisfied knowing you've just defended your homeland?"

The soldier looked up and saw the face of one of another soldier staring back at him, dirty and stained as all others were but with a light that seemed to shine from it, an aura exuding confidence. The man smiled, but the expression seemed to lack happiness in some way. The soldier noticed the rank of the other man and, giving him a salute, quickly addressed him as such.

"Captain. Sir, nothing's troubling me. It's just that…" he paused.

"It's just that what, footman?"

"Sir, this didn't feel like protecting Hyrule. This felt like an execution, sir."

"How so?"

"Sir, we outnumbered them nearly ten to one today. Our equipment, tactics, and position were all vastly superior. We've already occupied most of their desert bases and pushed them away from the settlers. They don't have anywhere else to retreat to. They're no threat any more, sir."

"Oh? And what would you call a band of five hundred cavalry, all armed to teeth and able to cover thirty miles in a single day?" the man countered. "Don't get me wrong, attacking us wasn't a good idea and it wasn't a battle they could win but they deserved everything they got. The Gerudo are thieves and murderers; it's all they know how to do. They steal and destroy because they aren't a race civilized enough to support themselves. Hopefully, what's left of them will change their ways but until then we have to protect Hyrule and its citizens. A Gerudo would kill any Hyrulian without a second thought and you have to be prepared to do the same in return."

The captain stopped speaking for a moment and sighed deeply as he looked off into the mountains, as if staring through them at something miles away.

"Just last week they looted the Pico Ranch, stole all of its cattle and horses, and set fire to the place. All seventeen people on that ranch died because they couldn't defend themselves from this 'non-existent threat' of yours," he said as his fist clenched tensely and an expression of anger came over his face, turning it into a mask of fury. "What do you think would have happened to the other farming communities if we hadn't come out here? They wouldn't have had a chance, that's what." The captain gained control of himself and seemed to get his emotions back under control before he went on. "Of course, as bad and dangerous as the Gerudo are, you can be glad that their male leader is late coming this generation or we'd be in some real trouble. Ha, we might very well be the ones lying in this valley, instead of the other way around."

"But haven't we stolen their land and given them no other choice?" the soldier asked hurriedly, "Haven't we backed them into a corner and-"

"That's enough of that, **footman**," the captain warned, reminding the soldier of his rank. "Whatever problems you're having with the morality of this, don't. We saved the lives on innocents today, even if we couldn't save all of them. You did your part and did it well, and for that I commend you. That's all you need to concern yourself with."

"Yes, sir. But they… they were just women," the soldier said, his throat choking up, "They'd never done harm to me or anyone I know. But I killed them, just because I was ordered to. I can see their faces in front of me, watch their eyes as they die, sir."

"They weren't just women, footman," the captain said, "They were warriors. Saying anything any different is a disservice not only to them, but to you as well. They were trained to kill for all of their lives, probably more thoroughly than you. The fact that you survived at all is quite an accomplishment and don't you dare think differently. Tell me, how many battles have you been a part of, footman?"

"This is my first, sir."

"I thought as much. You're first kills as well, I take it?"

"More or less," he replied quietly.

The captain laughed.

"There's no 'more or less' about it. You obviously hadn't, and no shame in saying so. I'm not going to lie to you. You killed women today and that's going to stick with you. You're probably going to have to live with that fact for the rest of your life. You're a killer now. There's no joy to be had in it, no pride in the act of killing itself, but you _should_ be proud of the fact that you did what was asked of you. You did your duty. If you'd ever done battle with a man or beast trying to kill you before today, you'd know that there's no difference between them and the Gerudo when they have the same goal: to get you first. But you wouldn't know that, would you? You seem pretty young. How old are you, footman?"

"Nineteen, sir."

"As you may have noticed, I'm still pretty young myself," he said pointing at his smooth, slightly scarred face and smiling, "Only two years older than you, in fact. However, counting today I've been a part of seventeen military engagements, minor skirmishes notwithstanding. This isn't to brag, you understand, I only want to let you see that I know something of what I'm telling you about. By the fifteenth of those, I was noticed by some pretty important folks and I've been good enough and lucky enough to find myself serving in the King's personal bodyguard ever since. That is to say I _was_ serving in the King's personal bodyguard. You see, at this very moment, King Hyrule is down in his tent lying on what will probably be his deathbed. Do you know why?" the captain asked the soldier but as he expected, received no answer. "Then I'll tell you. He took an arrow in the chest to save the life of one of _his_ bodyguards. You can be sure that he would have done the same for any other man in this army if he had the chance. That's how far he's willing to go and how much love he has in him. King Hyrule came out into this valley so that our army could take the arrow of the Gerudo bandits for his people. He came out here to protect the lives of the citizens he loves like his own children and he isn't afraid to put his own life on the line for it. That's all I really need to know.

"He won't make any man risk life and limb for any cause he isn't willing to do the same for, and he'll do whatever is necessary for the safety and well-being of his people. I would follow that man into the abyss if he asked me to and, if it were possible, I would trade my life to save his right now without a second thought. At this moment I think every man in this army wishes he could have been there and gotten in the way of that arrow before it hit our king. I know I do. When he officially dies, if he hasn't already, his bodyguard will be disbanded. I no longer have a job in this army, if I'm still in this army at all. But things could be far worse. Even with a punctured lung, the last thing he said before he passed out was that his bodyguards were not to follow him." The captain saw that the statement wasn't fully understood by the footman. "By law, when the king dies in battle we're all supposed to be executed, to die with the man we swore a blood oath to protect. But instead he wished for us to live, and live well. That's how much love he has for us. Many of us are contemplating following him to the other side anyway. That's how much love we have for him. His Sheikah will cut open his own stomach the second the King passes on, as is his duty, but I'm sure he'd do it willingly regardless. I may not have that kind of commitment in me, but I should be a dead man for my failure, instead I'm just kind of lost… But none of that really matters.

"What you're doing is right, even if you have doubts of your own," the captain stated with all of the conviction a man might have in him about any subject, " What you're doing is right and you have to know that. You're not from the West, so you can't really understand what it's like to live in fear of these people for all of your life. I can't either. But I took an oath that said I'd follow the orders I was given and do whatever was in my power to protect this land, every bit of it, as did you. You and I can't always see the big picture, only a little piece. I trust that those men who can see further than me would not lead us in to battle and risk their own lives on a lie. I trust men who tread where I tread and risk what I risk. You can too."

The soldier just nodded his head but said nothing. The captain waited a moment then began to leave but the soldier stopped him.

"Sir? With all of this now over, can you tell me how I go back to living my life? Can you tell me how things go back to the way they were?"

"They won't, because nothing ever does. But you won't have to worry about that for some time. We're far from over with this campaign and I suggest you get to sleep. We break camp at dawn."

* * *

**Thirty-One Years Later **

**Lymal Valley of the Southeast**

"Son of a bitch."

As the cock crowed outside, Link awoke from his slumber, cursing the new day's arrival. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, yawning. He wasn't angry to be awake or to see the sun, but the first thing that came to his mind was all of the things he'd put off yesterday that he'd have to get done before the sun went down today. Life on a farm was always full of things to do and there never seemed to be enough time in the day to do them all. At one time he'd welcomed the bright orb and its warmth, now the streaks of light on the horizon promised nothing but hard labor. For people living most other lifestyles, they'd probably never understand that concept. As he smoothed down his thinning blonde hair, he glanced over at Malon, still sleeping soundly beside him, and was careful not to wake her as he slid out of bed. She'd wake up on her own soon enough in plenty of time to make breakfast once he got back from the day's first set of chores. Still, after thirty years of marriage he'd learned that those five minutes between when _he_ _got up_ and when _she was ready to get up_ made all the difference how the rest of the day would go. She had him quite trained by now and he didn't even try to deny it to himself anymore.

He picked his mud-stained, threadbare overalls up off the floor and stepped into them. Long ago, he'd traded in the short tunics of the forest for more practical, durable farm wear. He wondered what had ever happened to all of those tunics. Had he traded them for something useful such as a cart wheel or shovel or had he simply thrown them away? Maybe Malon would remember once she woke up. Ah well, he had more important things to give his attention to. Gently, he sat on the edge of the bed and put on his boots. Milking the cow wasn't that difficult, but it started off a day that was cumulative in its stress. When he'd been younger it hadn't seemed like such a chore, but now even the most meager effort could fill his body with fatigue by the end of the day. It didn't stop him from doing it, of course. For a while, he'd been able to send his sons, and for a very short time his daughters, out to do the milking but now that responsibility fell squarely on his shoulders once again. Whether all the help had gotten him lazy or whether it was all just the result of seeing fifty-two summers come and go, he didn't know. He was still reasonably fit and lean but it was always easier to use someone else's muscles. His three sons had left his home for good a few years ago, and his eldest daughter Sharon was hardly ever with her parents anymore. She'd been apprenticing almost three years and was quite adept by now. She was only a year or two away from becoming a doctor in her own right, but her services did keep her away from the farm for weeks at a time. She hadn't gotten married yet, something Link worried would never happen if it didn't soon. A woman's beauty and charm could only capture a man for so long before she had to use wealth to lure him in. He smiled at his good fortune. Malon had had both when they'd gotten married. Oh, he knew he loved her _now_, but from time to time, he wondered if he'd actually loved her _then_. Anyway, there was no way Sharon could be sent to get the milk when she wasn't even in the valley. As for Lauron, his youngest, almost getting her head kicked off by the cow on one occasion had made her totally opposed to the idea. She readily gathered the eggs from the henhouse each morning, something Link despised doing. He'd never really been on good terms with chickens when he was younger, and hadn't ever grown out of it. So for him, getting the eggs was good enough especially considering all of the other work Lauron did in and out of the house.

He stepped through the house softly, avoiding the boards he knew would creak at the slightest pressure. He really needed to fix those, but the roof still had top priority… if he could get any time to get to either one of them, that was. Whenever it rained next, he was sure that the house would be flooded considering the state of disrepair the roof was in. Of course, that didn't seem to be too much of a problem these days. He went over to his daughter's room and whistled sharply, rising her from her slumber.

"Come on girl, you plan on sleeping all day?"

She groaned and rolled over, wrapping herself in her sheets even more tightly, but he knew she'd get on up in a few moments without any other pestering. She was dependable despite all appearances to the contrary. As he turned and headed toward the door outside, he grabbed his hat off the rack nearby and put it on. It wasn't the ridiculous, long, green thing he had worn years ago, but a practical, broad straw hat that helped keep the sun out of his eyes. He frowned. What _was_ the name of that type of headwear called? Yet another mystery of his youth. At least he wasn't wearing earrings anymore. Picking up bucket next to the door, he headed toward the stable, whistling a familiar tune softly that always seemed to make the cow give more milk, though by now he assumed it was just his imagination. Outside, he looked upon the farm, or at least what was left of it, and immediately stopped whistling. The sight was far from impressive.

Over twenty-five years ago, they had sold the Lon Lon Ranch to the Kingdom of Hyrule for a fraction of what it was worth, a mere 5,000 rupees. Malon had cried for days after losing her late father's property but Link had known that it was best to accept the paltry money and just move on. They'd been lucky. Other ranches hadn't even been offered money at all. But the kingdom had needed the land for an advanced fortress, what with the huge metropolis that was growing around Hyrule Castle. The Lon Lon Ranch had been the best strategic location for a base because of its geographic position and close proximity to the city. While he wasn't in the army anymore, it was still his duty to serve the king. The move had been tough on them, especially with two young boys and a herd of horses to relocate but after they had found some good land, starting over had been just a matter of willpower. The valley of the Southeast had been fertile when they'd found it, and relatively unsettled. It had received a good amount of rainfall and had had great underground aquifers that could provide irrigation in times of need. Then, it had been a paradise far away from attention and thoughts of the throne of Hyrule, and even now it received little consideration from the government. The food the farm grew still supported them but over the last ten years, the land in his valley had been caught in a drought and many of the crops had been failing. His paradise had been discovered by many more people - who coincidently all needed water as well - and the aquifers could barely give his family water to survive, much less irrigate the crops. Link had been forced to sell most of the horses in order to keep what little he had until now there were only two of them left, both descendants of Epona. Link's horse, Alosa, was starting to show signs of his age, but Malon's (now Lauron's) horse, Vera, was the spitting image of her great-grandmother. Epona had been a good horse. Losing her had been hard, yes, but not the hardest. He'd lost a lot of things over the years but he sons were still the hardest to get over.

As he walked into the stable and pulled up a stool next to the cow, his mind called up the memories and images of his sons, Pytor, Jasha, and Arkander, eldest to youngest, respectively. They'd been alike in many ways and yet so very different at the same time. Pytor, the dependable, responsible son. Never shirking his chores and always making sure Jasha and Arkander were doing theirs. Jasha, the womanizing, lazy son. If he wasn't chasing the skirts of town girls, he was hiding in the barn, trying to catch up on some sleep. Without Pytor to keep Jasha in line, Link knew he'd probably never had gotten any work out of that one. And of course Arkander. Well, as long as he wasn't terrorizing his sisters or mother to get his laughs, he was a hard worker. They were all hard workers and even better sons. After Pytor and Jasha had set off and begun working Old Man O'Hare in the next valley, Arkander had helped to shoulder their share of the work to the point Link hardly had to take on any more of his own. He'd grown into a fine young man. They'd all grown into fine men, better than any father could hope for. Then five years ago, they'd gone away to join the Northern Liberation Army after the kingdome had annexed Mr. Hangan's property to make room for a military barracks. Later that year, Pytor and Jasha had come back home, changed men.

_

* * *

He sits at his table drinking some of the liquor he's been saving for a special occasion, though apparently not caring to pace himself. It is several hours from daylight and he has been up all night talking, yelling, drinking. He had expected his sons' return to be joyous but thus far it has been nothing but strife. He is forty-seven._

_"Damn it, Father! Do you have any idea the things we've seen? Do you have any idea what your 'blessed kingdom' is out there doing right now?" Jasha says, eyes full of fiery indignation as he sits at the other side of the table across from his father. _

_"Every civilization must do certain things to keep its strength. That's harsh but it's a reality, one I know all too well," Link replies calmly, "It's necessary for the betterment of all."_

_"Somehow I doubt the butchering pregnant women and feeble old men is necessary."_

_"And you saw this with your own eyes?" Link questions._

_"No but-"_

_"Then don't be spreading those ridiculous, overblown stories. News travels fast, but certainly not accurate. Things happen in war and people like you who don't understand that fact pass on rumors filled with embellishment after embellishment." _

_"I walked into a village that had been razed to the ground a few days earlier," Jasha says, looking somewhere far away. "Everyone was dead. A girl I had been with only the night before was lying on the street with her guts spilled out onto the ground when I found her. They'd hung the infants from a tree in the center square. They'd-"_

_"And you know that the Hyrulians were behind this? You know there's plenty of roving bands out there like your liberation army capable of doing that." _

_"Gah! You're fucking impossible!" Jasha exclaims, as he stands up from his chair, frustrated._

_"Don't you dare talk to me that way," Link warns, reminding his sons of their place. "You may have grown up, but you're still not too big or too old for one more ass whuppin' under my roof, you understand?" _

_"Pfft, please," says Jasha as he gestures for his father to try it._

_Pytor, who has for some time been silent, comes between them with more composure than both and looks his father in the eyes._

_"Father, Jasha speaks the truth, even if you don't want to believe it. But even if this wasn't enough, there have been other things. Many other things. We would not have time to tell you about them all week, much less tonight. But listen to me now. I know you were close to the Gorons once. They say that before their former leader was assassinated, he made you his brother, back in the days of your youth. The Hyrulians have a stranglehold on their food supply and now the Gorons are little better than slaves. If they aren't mining, they're working as pack animals under clubs and chains. No people should have to live like that, but they have no other choice. I've seen how much blood a Goron body has in it. When they last tried to reclaim their freedom, the dry riverbeds ran full once again._

_"Listen," he goes on, "I know that you've been loyal to Hyrule for most of your life and maybe in the past this loyalty was deserved but they have people out there committing countless crimes right now from top to bottom. It's not just the military, it's the tax collectors, and the merchants, and even the crown."_

_Bringing his fist down on the table forcefully, Link stands up._

_"I swore my life to that crown when you were two weren't even a tingle in my ball sack. I won't break my word over hearsay, and I won't break it for a nation doing what it has to to put down rebellions. The king does what he must to preserve peace and prosperity and if you stand against him, you're not **my** sons anymore. I won't have traitors under my roof. You're lucky I don't kill you where you stand."_

_"Father you've been drinking-" Pytor pleads with an expression distress on his face._

_"No, Pytor, he's not drunk. He knows exactly what he's saying," Jasha snarls, "And you know what, Daddy dearest? Fuck off, because I don't even give a shit anymore."_

_Jasha storms out, slamming the door behind him, and Pytor stays for a moment. He says something about wishing things could have been different but that it is time to take action. He tells his father that he is willing to fight for what he believes in and will be lieutenant soon, if things keep going the way they are. He tells his father that he hopes things will be different between them when this is all over. He tells his father he loves him. As he leaves, Link grabs another bottle and drinks until he passes out._

_It isn't until he wakes up in the morning that he realizes that Arkander is gone as well._

* * *

"Dammed bunch of fools…" he muttered.

The cow turned its head back toward him, disapprovingly.

"What? Just because they're my sons it means I can't speak the truth?"

The cow mooed in disagreement but once again looked straight ahead. Stupid beast.

He hadn't heard word from or about any of them specifically since then, but he knew they were dead without any doubt in his mind. In the winter of that year, the whole of the Northern Liberation Army had clashed with the Hyrulian military in the middle of the Evermore Forest, a small, harsh tract of land between the desert cliffs of the West and the Great Northern Mountains. The NLA had been attempting to circle behind the capital and attack Hyrule castle itself but luckily the Hyrulian army had intercepted them before they could reach their destination. Losses on both sides had been heavy, but the Hyrulian army was made up of professional, disciplined soldiers, something the rebels had clearly, and dearly, lacked. Out of the estimated three thousand rebel forces involved, the Northern Liberation Army had lost almost twenty-five hundred in the battle itself. Link prayed his sons had died fighting, or at the very least fallen on their own swords before the battle ended. Such a fate would have been mercy compared to that of those who had not. The Hyrulian army had rounded up those who had survived, and Excruciated them all as punishment, a sentence historically given only to murderers and traitors. A direct assault on the king and his family could very well be considered a most despicable act of defection, Link admitted, but it seemed excessive to treat an army of men as if they were treacherous members of the royal court. To give out Excruciations arbitrarily would make it lose all its meaning and become cruelty for the sake of cruelty. Unfortunately, under Hyrule's most recent king, the number of traitors considered worthy of Excruciation had risen dramatically.

Excruciation could be carried out anywhere, but it was traditionally done in the forests so the trunks of the great trees could be utilized, rather than erecting freestanding structures. The criminal was usually marched or beaten into submission until he couldn't struggle any longer, then nailed through the sockets of both shoulders into the trunk of the tree. Suffocation was usually the cause of death if animals didn't get there first, though due to the famine of _that_ winter, such an occurrence was rare. Yet another aspect of the sadism of Excruciation was that the criminal could move his arms slightly, perhaps enabling him to swat at insects or attempt to fend off other animals, but doing so would cause an even worse pain and damage to his shoulders. The criminal's instincts told him to defend himself, but doing so would only prolong and increase the suffering.

In the case of the more vicious or repugnant of murderers and traitors, the criminal was given a footrest, which would prolong the torture for possibly days depending on the health of the criminal at the time. Measures beyond that were usually reserved only to the most despicable of murderers or one who had betrayed the Kingdom in the vilest of ways and before the modern era only a handful had been given this sentence, such was the punishment regarded. However, following the Battle of Evermore the regular soldiers had been lined up and sentenced according to nothing but chance. Five out of every ten men had been Excruciated in the traditional way. Four out of every ten had been given footrests for their Excruciations, while the remaining tenth of them had been disemboweled. Their intestines had been pulled out through the slits in their bellies until the bowels reached the ground. Reportedly, the wolves that had come had pulled at the entrails and organs that spilled out of the rebels' torsos and gnawed at their feet and legs for hours before the criminals had finally succumb to their wounds. The screams of all of these men's spirits were said to echo on cold winter nights, even now. But the officers' fate had been worse yet. They had been Excruciated some twenty feet above the ground, given footrests, and had their intestines carefully wound out until they also reached the forest floor. The larger animals hadn't been able to reach anything but the entrails, but the crows and insects had been more than able.

He prayed to the three goddesses his sons had fallen in battle. He prayed that harder than anything else in the world.

He soon finished milking and went to take care of his other responsibilities before breakfast. Lauron came by him once, yawning, but in a disposition much better than that of her father. His thoughts remained dark and troubled until Malon called them in for their meal. His wife wasn't pretty anymore; her hair was more gray than red, and her figure had swelled past that of her younger self. No, she couldn't win any beauty contests these days, but a truly beautiful woman wasn't measured solely on appearance and Link supposed she still possessed that most important beauty of the soul. She also possessed a voice that could be heard for miles if she wanted, and commanded the authority of a general giving orders to his soldiers. Both father and daughter quickly washed up and sat down at the table while Malon dished out the eggs, milk, bread, and butter. Apparently they were out of bacon. He'd have to go to the butcher and purchase some, if he could scrounge up the rupees.

They sat down and Link blessed the food with a short prayer to Hyrule, the Goddesses, and the land. He finished, and it was quiet after that but for the sounds of silverware and slurping. A few minutes later Lauron broke the silence as she began to speak.

"So do you like my bracelet, Daddy?"

He looked up and gave a weak smile. It was gold, with four markings designating it as that of Goronian design, and very beautiful, though it was rather plain by some standards.

"Don't you mean _my_ bracelet?" he said ornerily, "After all it took quite an adventure to get that and it was given to me by someone very important."

"Yeah but then you gave it to me with no adventure at all, so it's mine," she replied, equally ornery, "Besides, even if it can't make its wearer stronger anymore, it still looks better on me than it would on you."

"Which isn't a tough thing-" he began before getting cut off.

"So I guess you believe your father's old stories, do you?" Malon interrupted, softly. Link looked up, arching a suspicious eyebrow. Malon had never believed him and disapproved of it when he told his stories to the children but she'd never said anything to them before.

"Well," Lauron began diplomatically, "I believe _some_ of them, but some of them are just too much me. But I also believe there's some Daddy hasn't told me yet."

He laughed, cutting out any further comment his daughter might have and any other response his wife might make to it.

"Ha ha, well, you know how I get sometimes. I catch a fish that's four pounds and by the time the story gets to any of you it's forty. You can take whatever you hear from me with a grain of salt and you always have, as it should it be."

He finished eating what was on his plate and wiped his mouth. Malon got up, got his plate, and he kissed her on the cheek before grabbing his hat off the rack and heading outside to work in the field. He still had a full day ahead of him, after all.

**Later that Day**

Working in his field, Link brushed the sweat off his brow and peered up at the hot sun overhead. Already past noon. Damn it. He wasn't even half as done as he thought he'd be by this time. He was plowing some of the dry, dusty earth even though there was no moisture to be found below the surface. Futile. It was _all_ futile unless some rain came but what else could he do but plant the seeds and hope for the best? Oh, he longed for the days when he had command over time and weather, when magic was his to fling about haphazardly. Those had been the best days of his life…

He heard laughter and turned to see his daughter skipping toward him bringing a small glass of water with her and a piece of sweet cake. He gave a quick jerk on the harness he was wearing and Alosa obeyed immediately, stopping. As Lauron reached him, he saw her had a grin on her face that spread from one ear to the other and she seemed to be the very embodiment of joy. He smiled, her happiness rubbing off on him somehow and reminding him that the best days of his life didn't have to lie behind him. She was fifteen and had some of the fairer features her mother had had at that age, the resemblance was clearly there, but she took after her father far more, in look as well as attitude. Her hair was also the same light blond as his, something he was quite appreciative after four consecutive children with red. Having his genes get overridden by his wife so many times was insulting but finally he'd won out, and in a big way. Lauron was athletic and active, as at home in the field and forest as the valley. On the few occasions he'd taken her hunting, she'd also proven herself quite a shot with the bow. On her horse she was as natural, if not more, than he'd ever been. But the one undeniable trait he had given her was his stubbornness. She wouldn't be pushed into anything, even if it was what she really wanted. Why, if she'd had a sword and shield she would have been a carbon copy of her father, probably out in search of adventure tramping all over the kingdom, too. Of course, when he had been young, the kingdom had been a much safer place. Goblins and walking skeletons made for clearly defined enemies, of which the same could no longer be said.

"How's your sowin' goin' out here, Pops?" she asked, cheerily.

"Oh, it's goin'," he said as he took a drink. "Though I hope your mother's getting along with _her_ sewin' a might better than I'm getting along with mine. We'll probably be needing an extra set of clothes. This winter's supposed to get pretty cold, even in the south, so the astrologers say."

"Daddy, you know you don't believe in that stuff and Mom sure as hell doesn't."

"Heck, sweetie, say heck."

"But Daddy, you say 'hell' all the time."

"Yeah I do, but never around your mother," he answered between gulps.

"Well Mom's not around right now."

"No, she's not, but _you're_ gonna' slip and say it around your mother one day and then blame it on _me_," he took a bite of his cake, "and then _I'll _be sleeping out in the stable for goddesses know how long. She may be a rancher's daughter but I'll be damned – durned - if she doesn't have the manners of a lady in the royal court."

His glass was empty and crumbs covered the rest of his plate as he chewed the last of the cake.

"You done with that glass and plate, yet, Daddy?"

He looked down.

"Nah, I figure to keep it here with me the rest of the day for decoration," he replied sarcastically. She grabbed them both from him and stuck out her tongue. He stuck out his tongue back her, full of half chewed food and she giggled as she ran back toward the house. Silly girl. One day she wouldn't be a silly girl anymore or a girl at all and then that serious woman would leave the home and her and Malon would be all alone… But that as he behavior today proved, that was still many years away yet.

He put the harness back on and flicked the leather harness, starting the horse again. Almost as soon as he started going back to work, he saw some dust being kicked up further down the main road. _Who could that be_, he wondered. A minute later, he saw a two-horse carriage that was rather low scale, but still a class above what people in the valley were accustomed to. It stopped at the edge of his property and a young woman stepped out and grabbed a satchel off the top before walking toward the house. Link thought he recognized who it was but he couldn't be sure. He continued plowing for a moment before he heard his wife yell at him to come in. Dropping his harness, he sighed and started making his way to the house. He was only half way there before he recognized who the mysterious visitor was and he broke into a sprint. The young woman saw him and began running toward him as well. Just before they reached each other, she launched herself into the air and he caught her and spun her around twice before collapsing in mock exhaustion.

"By the goddesses, girl, what have those patients been feeding you for payment?" he asked, "Lead?"

"It's good to see you too, Daddy," Sharon said dryly as she got off him. He got up as well, dusting himself off. "Or maybe you're just not compensating for your own weight, old man," she said jiggling his gut, albeit a small one, playfully.

"Ah!" he exclaimed clutching at his heart, as if pulling out a poisonous arrow, "My daughter goes away for a months at a time and this is how she comes to treat me? Is this what those healers are teaching you while you're away from us?"

"Both of you stop that and come inside," Malon ordered sternly from the house.

"Honey, I've got work to do," Link pleaded to her. Malon looked out at the barren field and put her hands on her hips.

"Link, you can play around in the dirt any time but Sharon is only home once a year."

"It's not really that long, Mom," Lauron muttered, standing next to Malon.

"Well it feels like it," Malon said firmly, ending all discussion. "And you're _both_ coming in," she said to Link and Sharon using the same tone. He looked back over his shoulder at the field. She was right. It wasn't going to do any good and he did want to see Sharon before she left again. He started heading in. Sharon put her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. He could always do it tomorrow anyway.


	2. The Horror

**Evening **

Out behind the house, Link labored to cut some of the firewood Malon needed so she could cook the meat for dinner. In his opinion, she had more than enough wood, but it wasn't really about his opinion. In all of their years of marriage, that realization was still the fundamental concept that held the relationship stable and civil. It wasn't worth arguing about and it had to be done sometime, anyway. With a grunt, he brought the weapon down and split the stick of wood in half, slicing it almost perfectly. Rather than an axe, as most would use, he was using a sword. An amazing blade really. It hadn't gone dull yet, even after all these years. A kind of magic was left in it, he supposed, even when all other magic had decided to leave him. He threw the two halves onto the small stack and replaced them with another whole log.

Bringing his sword down again, his mind went to Hyrule Castle and the beautiful Queen who ruled there, still. When she'd been but a princess she'd given him an ocarina which could manipulate the ebb and flow of time itself. His journey had taken him back and forth across time in his quest to defeat the evil King Ganondorf, bent on ruling the world and achieving ultimate power. He smiled. With the help of that legendary sword, he had ended the Gerudo thief's reign in a horrible alternate future and destroyed the hideous monster, utterly. So clear things had been back then. Good and evil separated as plainly as light and shadow, no varying degrees of morality to deal with. If only things could have always stayed so.

Ganondorf's wickedness had been erased from existence and in the process Link had erased his fate as the Hero of Time. He had become the hero no one knew saving them from a threat that did not exist and had never existed, though the affects of his existence lingered on. Sure, the Gorons remembered him for opening their cave and exterminating the Dodongos, but he hadn't been to the North in decades. The Zora remembered him for saving princess Ruto from their Lord Deity's belly, but they had disappeared from Hyrule almost twenty years and hadn't been heard from since except in rumors. Then there were the Kokiri, but… well that was more complicated. Anyway, he was a footnote in the history of minor races, rather than the hero of all ages and peoples he was supposedly destined to be. A celebrity of obscurity. He had tried to accept this but in the end, his weakness and doubt and had finally overcome him.

_

* * *

He walks into the Temple of Time, quietly, respectfully. The sacred building is almost empty; a few who have come to pray kneel in front of the three sacred stones and mumble words as they try to find a way to communicate to the goddesses. He is twenty-eight. A priestess asks him if there's anything he needs. He says that no, he's just seeking some guidance in a time of trouble. She smiles knowingly and bothers him no more. He joins the faithful, praying intensely for hours for a sign to come and tell him what he is about to do is wrong. More than anything else, at this moment he wants to be stopped before his blasphemy goes any further. He waits but does not truly expect to be shown anything. He isn't disappointed when he receives none. The others leave eventually, and as the sweat of his spiritual exertion drips off his forehead, he stands up in front of the stone slab that blocks entrance to his destination. The priestess has left to attend to matters outside of the temple and he is alone. He is all alone. Even the hum of the monks in courtyard is silent and he knows it is time. He puts the ocarina to his lips and plays the song of time, the notes, filled with ancient magic, reverberating within the silence. The doors engraved with a symbol of the shining sun, slide open. As he enters the sacred room, he places the ocarina back in his pouch and takes a deep breath. It is night and yet bright light from some unknown source pours into the room from the window, illuminating the Master Sword in its place. He walks over to it slowly, his heart beating in sheer terror. His fingers wrap around the hilt and he jerks upward, attempting to pull it free from its marble encasing. It slides out easily. There is no bright light, no circle of fiery blue magic; there is nothing. He looks at the empty hole, still perfect in shape, not chipped or broken in the slightest. It was waiting for him after all, he realizes. He places the Master Sword in the empty sheath that is waiting for it and walks out, his heresy unpunished._

* * *

It had been selfish, sure, but he had taken the sword from its place in the temple, maybe just to assure himself that everything that had happened had been erased, rather than just never occurring at all. A tangible validation of his identity. Now the sword was in his possession really just as a reminder of what had happened, and nothing else. He chopped firewood with it and practiced his technique from time to time, keeping his skills sharp for that day when the need for his abilities would be called on again. _If_ the need for his abilities would be called on again, he corrected.

The ocarina of time on the other hand he had had no use for, lest he be tempted to do evil with it someday. In the same trip that he had removed the Master Sword, he had returned the ocarina to the now _Queen_ Zelda. Convincing the court to allow him to see her had been quite a chore. Humorous though. The looks on their faces when she'd proceeded to grant him a private audience had been priceless. He hadn't seen her either since that day twenty-six long years ago, but he figured she knew who had taken sword. For a few years after it disappeared, it had been quite mystery as people knew the legend that only the true Hero of Time could draw forth the Master Sword from its place. By now people just assumed that it was with its rightful owner and thought nothing else of it, if they thought of it at all. To his knowledge, Zelda was the only other one who had retained her memory of those non-events. The sages he had talked to after he was restored to his younger self hadn't given a hint of any memory of it. Private knowledge between himself, Zelda, and the three goddesses. That was good company to be in, Link supposed. Of course, Zelda was always good company to be in. He'd shared some of the information with Malon but he knew she didn't believe him. She had problems believing the things that still existed in this timeline, not that he could blame her. Ah well. All for the best, probably.

He suddenly snapped out of his routine enough to see the sun disappearing over the horizon and a stack of wood up to his thighs sitting next to him. He grinned. Yeah, that should do Malon for the night.

* * *

Back inside, the two girls worked to prepare the dishes and eating utensils for the coming meal. For Sharon, it felt as though life was back to where it should be… well except for the sounds of boys arguing and wrestling in the back of the house. Sharon missed them deeply but knew them to be dead. She had heard her father's argument with the boys those years ago and knew where they had gone. She had also heard stories of the brutality of the Battle of Evermore and its aftermath, traveling around with the healers. In her mind, she knew them to be dead but in her heart she could imagine them living on farms of their own, starting families in valleys hundreds of miles away. Sometimes it helped, but most of the time she was unable to let her heart deceive the reality her mind knew to be the truth.

"Sharon, you just gave Daddy two knives at his place. He only needs one," her younger sister pointed out quickly.

Lauron had grown up so fast in the time her older sister had been away. She was almost a woman in her own right. The two of them hardly ever talked now, partly because of the how seldom Sharon was home, but also just because they had grown apart. Maybe that was how it was with all sisters.

"Thanks," Sharon said as she realized she hadn't responded, "Say, what have you been up to lately? Met any boys?"

"No, not really," Lauron replied, violently jerking a thumb in the direction of their mother who had her back turned, "I hardly ever have time to meet anyone anyway as much time as I spend here. Besides," she began with a wink, " I'm not really into that whole thing right now. Plenty of time for romance and marriage later."

"Well, I've been thinking that maybe we shouldn't get married at all," Sharon said as she suppressed a laughed and winked back, "It seems like an awful waste to get tied down to a man for the rest of your life when there's so much more out there to see and do." Their mother stopped stirring the flour and turned to look at both of them with an expression of shock.

"Shame on you Sharon!" Malon scolded, "Just because you've become a lost cause doesn't mean you should fill your sisters head with those horrible ideas."

Both Lauron and Sharon were taken aback until they saw a grin creep its way up the corners of their mother's mouth and saw he wink back at both of them. "Just remember moments like these every time you think I don't know something or I'm not in on the joke. I was young once - when dragons roamed the earth – and I'm not quite as stupid as you think," she said as she turned back and resumed stirring. "Now go ahead and tell her about this Jared I've been hearing so much about."

"Mom!"

"What? Don't get mad at me. I have my sources but I always like hearing you talk about it yourself better. It's entertaining to see how the stories match up."

Lauron started to pout but Sharon stepped in to get the pressure off her.

"Hey, do you remember that time Daddy caught me in the barn that night with that boy?" she asked, "What was his name? Tim? Tate?"

"Taylor," Malon corrected.

"So you _do_ remember," Sharon said.

"What I remember is worrying that your father was actually going to catch the boy and be picked up by the justices for murder."

"_You_ were with a boy in the barn?" Lauron asked her sister in disbelief, "Why wasn't I ever told about this if everyone else knew?"

"Oh it wasn't that bad," Sharon said, brushing the question off, "and you didn't really need to know about it. Besides, we weren't actually doing anything but talking."

"Your father didn't know that," Malon pointed out, "I do believe he scarred that poor boy for the rest of his life. Why, the things that came out of his mouth as he was running after that boy, I hadn't heard before nor thankfully have I heard since. And when you two get finished could you start setting some of these pots and dishes on the table. There's no more room left on the counter." She looked back at them. "On second thought, you might as well help prepare a bed for our new guest. Knowing the two of you klutzes, half of the dishes wouldn't make the trip, anyway. Might give you two a chance to talk without your dear old mother getting in the way, too, I imagine."

They smiled and went back to their bedroom. When Sharon had lived there, one of the beds had been hers but now it was empty except when she came to visit.

"It's nice having you back," Lauron said as she lied down on her own bed, "but I won't lie and tell you I don't enjoy the extra space I have with you out of the way."

Sharon grinned.

"I remember how mad I was at you when you were born. All I knew is that I used to have this room to myself and you had to come along and take away part of it."

"Ha ha, you selfish witch."

"I was seven. Give me a break. Anyway, what have you been up to these past few years I've been away?"

"Not much. With you and the boys gone well… let's just say the work's kept me busy."

"I'm sure… What about hobbies?" Sharon question, "What do you do in the little spare time that you have?"

"I haven't told anyone else about this so I might as well tell you," Lauron answered cryptically, "It's nothing special really." She pulled an object wrapped in a cloth out from underneath the bed. Gently taking it out, she revealed a small dagger. Picking it up, she twirled it around and tossed it around from hand to hand skillfully.

"Impressive," Sharon said.

Lauron frowned.

"I'm nowhere near as good at it as I should be. My stabs and thrusts are decent, but my throwing is still wanting, terribly," she punctuated the statement by tossing it quickly at what Sharon assumed was a target on the wall. It missed a less than a foot to the side but that didn't seem good enough for Lauron, "It's a balanced blade, and, strong too, so fault still lies with me. Dad refuses to teach me unless I can catch him in the right mood so I have to train myself most of the time."

"Well I hope you never have a call to use it."

"Maybe so but if I do, at least I'll be prepared."

Sharon changed the subject and they sat talking for a little while about more pleasant matters before their mother called for them to come back in and sit down. Then the four of them sat down at the table and had an excellent supper.

* * *

**Night**

The house was quiet and dark as always, but lying in his bed next to Malon, Link found himself unable to go to sleep, even as tired as he felt. He was hot, restless. The room wasn't as empty as it should have been. Something didn't feel quite right. Something wasn't quite right.

_-Link-_

He groaned as he "heard" his name.

_-Link-_

He opened his eyes but his room was gone, replaced by a world of substanceless white light. As he looked around, bewildered, he finally saw a small child dressed in green before him. Link recognized the child as one of the Kokiri and the memories of his childhood swept over him. His brain registered this particular one quickly as Mido, once a bully and his nemesis, but one who had quickly become as great and loyal friend as could be found anywhere.

"Mido!" Link yelled out, his voice echoing strangely in this unfamiliar place. "It's good to see you. What have you been up to?"

_-Link…come to the Kokiri Forest. Saria needs you. You must hurry-_

"Wait, what? What are you talking about? Mido, what's going on?"

_-Hurry…-_

As his voice trailed off to a whisper, Mido faded away slowly until he was completely gone and Link was left completely alone. The next moment, he found himself back in his bed and he jerked awake, sweating and out of breath. The sheets on his legs were sticky from his perspiration and his heart was racing in excitement. He massaged his temples firmly. Well, he would be getting no more sleep this night. He looked over at his wife and found her to still be sleeping soundly, undisturbed. He cautiously got out of bed and pulled back the curtain, looking outside. It was still dark out and it didn't seem like it would be morning for another few hours. He looked back at his wife and stroked his chin for a few moments, thinking. What to do? Part of him reminded itself that maybe he'd just been dreaming and it would be a mistake to do something illogical and rash without giving himself so time to think about it. Another part reminded him that Saria might need him. What to do?

Decisions made in the middle of the night are rarely done in a calm or rational manner and minutes later he was on his horse, galloping toward the Kokiri Forest with his sword and shield strapped to his back. In the morning, his family found a note on the table explaining that he had been called away to the Kokiri Forest on urgent business. What to do, indeed.

**Two Days Later**

**Morning**

Link's horse trotted toward the Kokiri Forest slowly, panting. He patted it on the neck and fed it a carrot which gave it some incentive to go faster. Two days hard ride had taken its toll on the old beast, a feat which would have been easily done in its youth but was nearly killing it now. Link had thought about tying Alosa up somewhere and going along on foot, but he knew that he couldn't cover the five miles they had left running nearly as fast as his horse could walking. The sense of urgency was still there and it made him feel helpless to be moving so slowly. For whatever reason he'd been called, it had to be important. It was rare that he was invited to the Kokiri Forest, and not once in over thirty years.

_

* * *

He stands before an assembly of all the Kokiri. Some are sobbing, some sniffling, a few leaning against walls with their arms crossed across their chest, trying to appear tough. He is eighteen. He towers above them now but he can remember the days when he was the runt of the group. Once he'd felt like an outsider because of his size, and the feeling has returned to him recently. He looks down to see a young, green-haired girl who is far older than him, and far older than he will ever be. She looks as if she could not have seen the passing of twelve summers, and yet in actuality she is older than all but the tallest oaks of the forest._

_"You've spent much time in the Kokiri Forest since you were brought here and that time has been well spent. But this is no place for adults, Link," she tells him sadly, "there are rules that must be observed and we've bent them as far as we can for as long as we can. This is no place for you anymore. You have to move on with your life. You're destined for something much greater; I can feel it. Do you understand?"_

_He nods, but says nothing. He understands none of it, only that he will never get to see his friends again after this day. He feel anguish like he's never felt before. Saria takes his hand and leads him out to the bridge that connects the Kokiri Forest to the rest of the world. The "chasm" the bridge traverses is unimposing, both narrow and shallow, but the size belies the true distance caused by the gap. They stop when they are half way across and Link drops to one knee in front of her. He kisses her forehead and she hugs him with the arms of a child, but the spirit of a sage. He remembers having a crush on her once when he was still a boy, but he's grown beyond that now and cares for her as a person in ways much more deeply than romance would allow, childish or otherwise. He tries to give her back her fairy ocarina but she won't accept it._

_"Keep it with you so that you won't forget your time with us here," she says, "keep it for me."_

_He nods silently again, then without word, stands up and walks the rest of the way across the bridge, through the magic entrance, and jumps on Epona's back to ride away for good. Not once does he look behind him. Not once does Saria blink._

* * *

She'd told him to keep it to remember her, and he had, even though all of the magic had gone out of it long ago. The ocarina had been broken in some accident over twenty years ago (he couldn't remember what exactly) but he'd collected the pieces and set them in a box in his bedroom, a concession Malon granted him without even bothering him what it was about. Malon was good about knowing what to push him on and what to leave alone.

He'd respected their wishes and hadn't even tried to go back since but he knew that even if he did, he couldn't enter without Great Deku Tree and Kokiri children's consent. If they'd wanted him there, they would have called him as was currently being proven. The message that had actually been sent was troubling, though. Link wasn't exactly an expert on magic of any kind so perhaps there were other factors in the communication that prevented something less cryptic from being said. Ha, in his youth he'd wielded magic so carelessly without thought of where is came from or why it worked. Such days those had been.

The minutes ticked by quickly as he thought of all of the good memories he had gained from his time with the Kokiri children and soon he found himself in front of the barrier to the forest. He'd been told that those not allowed entrance couldn't see it, but he'd never tried to find it since he'd been told he wasn't allowed. He supposed it could be a sign that they wanted him in. Link dismounted and tied his up to a dead tree next to the entrance. He pulled out his sword and slipped his arm through the straps of the shield, advancing cautiously. He didn't know why he'd been summoned, exactly, and it was always good to be prepared in the face of uncertainty. Still, what a ridiculous sight he would be, an old man still playing dress up. The Kokiri would probably laugh at him, poke fun at the signs of his aging. Link wondered if any of the children had changed at all in the time he'd been away. He doubted it. As he passed through the magical barrier, he felt nothing despite the number of summers separating him from his childhood. He had expected some feeling, a tingle maybe, but perhaps that was because they were letting him in. Yes, that was probably it. As he came near the bridge, he noticed something didn't seem right, but he couldn't place it. He'd probably just been away from the forest too long.

As he stepped on to the bridge, the reek of death suddenly hit his nostrils and he gagged. He looked up to his right and saw a naked child nailed through the shoulders to a tall wooden post. Dried blood had run down its chest from a throat wound and crows picked at its empty eye sockets and open mouth for soft flesh. Flies crawled inside the nose and ears and buzzed around the boy's body, a further defilement. His body, baked in the sun over a period of days, was bloated sickeningly and though the top of his body was a pale, pale white, his lower body was full of color, purple and black. Link looked around and saw over twenty children in the same condition with their throats slashed, some further mutilated by weapons, and most eaten by creatures to some degree. He jumped over the side of the bridge, ignoring the pains in his knees as he checked for any possible survivors, rationality telling him he was unlikely to find any but hope driving him besides. The stench of decomposition and defecation was everywhere. He searched up and down the wooden posts for signs of life but the only life he found belonged to that of the scavengers. A few children, mostly girls, were lying on the ground with severe bruises around their necks, victims of strangulation. When he went to check on them and see if there was any way he could help them, maggots squirmed out from beneath them a malodorous stench swept over him, revealing that they were long past any help he could provide. He couldn't bear to look at them much longer. But so many more were nailed to the posts, left in varying degrees of defacement. They'd been hacked to pieces after their deaths, some skinned, some missing limbs, some even missing genitals. Who was capable of doing such a thing to children? Who could- there had to be survivors somewhere… They couldn't all be dead…He checked all bodies for life, even the ones that had obviously passed on. He wouldn't let himself believe that they were all dead. Finally, when he had given up all hope, he heard sounds of life behind a stone in the far corner. He rushed over to it and found a boy lying up against the stone as if he was hugging it. When Link got closer, he saw that metal bolts had been driven through the boy's arms into the stone in multiple places, holding him there. He was covered in cuts and bruises and it appeared both eyes had been removed from his head, by weapon or animal, Link couldn't be sure. Most of the boy's long blonde hair was lying beside him in clumps and his raw, sunburned scalp was in pieces. His legs were broken and twisted; from his left thigh, a bloody bone jutted out. The surrounding tissue was inflamed and the infection had many colors, a rainbow of repugnance. Link looked back at the boy's face. His lips moved but Link couldn't make out what the child was saying. He put his ear close to the boy's lips.

"Wa…ter."

Link quickly pulled out a canteen from his bag and began pouring it down the boy's throat. He gurgled and spit some up, but eagerly accepted more. Once Link felt the boy had gotten enough, he stopped and put the canteen up. It wasn't until he studied the face closer that he realized that it was Mido.

"Mido? Goddesses, what's happened to you? Hold still and let me get you out of that stone."

"There's nothing you can… do about it now. I am in too much pain and it would do no good. I'll be… passing on soon."

"Where's your fairy? Where are the rest of the Kokiri's fairies? They've still got their magic, don't they? They could revive you and the others!"

"No, we're beyond even their… help now. Even if we weren't, I'd rather… Tabila escape than sacrifice his life for my own. Many… of the other fairies were bottled by the intruders… or just killed. No, there isn't any… helping us now. You cannot undo what was done."

"What was done? What was done? By the goddesses, I can see what was done! _Who_ did it?"

"Link, please don't… talk anymore until I'm… through, okay? This… is hard enough as it is. I…I was told to tell you that **this**…this is the penalty of all traitors and separatists in Hyrule. My… forehead wears the symbol of the king I should have sworn allegiance to instead of betrayed and… I pay the price for my mistake as all eventually will."

Link reached up and brushed the hair out of the boy's forehead, revealing the seal of the Kingdom of Hyrule. He looked away, the seal somehow more gruesome than any other corpse in the forest could possibly be.

"They came in through the Lost Woods a dozen of them…and took us by surprise but we assumed not with malice. We've never been enemies of Hyrule… Somehow they got through the… barrier. We thought they had come through with permission but… soon we saw that this couldn't be possible. We had no protection from them… I'm so sorry, Link… I was told to… call you here and in… return they said they'd stop torturing the rest of the children. But they… took my eyes Link. They took my… I… I don't know if they kept their promise. I haven't heard any others in days but… tell me, do they… wear the marks of a steel blade?"

"Yes, Mido," Link answered as he looked around, as truthfully as his conscience would allow, "Almost all of them look to have had their throats cut before the Excruciation killed them."

"Good," he said and as a pained smile briefly crossed his face. "I have heard that… when the non-fairy folk enter the Lost Woods they become monsters. Is that… what made them do this to us, Link? Did they become monsters within before… it could show on the surface?"

"Yeah, Mido," he lied, outright, "it had to be the dark magic of the Lost Woods that did this to them. No Hyrulian could do this to the the Kokiri without a soul tainted and black."

"Then I will… pray for their souls in the next life. I only hope the goddesses can… forgive them for their sins… and forgive me for my own. You have to understand…you have to… We were beaten for… days before I could call you, Link. The girls were… raped mercilessly over and over again, some by the soldiers themselves… others by whatever the soldiers could find lying around. It was horrible. Saria… she… she…" he began to sob tearlessly.

Link's mind was suddenly filled with last images Mido saw through the eyes he no longer had.

_

* * *

He sees images of a soldier running Saria down, tripping her into a rock. Her face hits it, knocking out several teeth and breaking her nose. Blood runs down her face as the rest of the soldiers make it to her and turn her over on her back. She screams as they tear off her clothes and beat her until she can no longer resist. She is limp, but still somewhat conscious. He can see her tears and hear her beg them to stop in a whisper. He sees them hold her down and explore her body with their hands and their mouths, and they force themselves into her, one after another for hours, pouring their lust onto her, and her agony sating them as much as the sex itself. He hears the snap of several of her bones that can't bear the weight and stress of what their ordeal, but they don't even pause. They don't have an ounce of mercy in them. He can hear one of the soldiers standing nearby say, "It's not like your really fucking a kid, I mean she's a couple hundred years old right? More like fucking a granny, really. Amazing it's as tight as it is, all things considered." He hears several of the other girls who are tied up whimper in fear as they watch and can see them hold one another close as they try not to look away, but can't. This is their first experience with true evil and they are so afraid, so very afraid. Several lose control of their bladders and bowels, causing the soldiers to laugh. One of the soldiers who hasn't been participating speaks up. "This shit isn't right, guys… Separatists or not, this shit just isn't right." But he makes no move to stop the others and they laugh. "Wait outside, then," they say. "We'll be gone soon enough." Link sees no more of the soldier in the images and realizes that he has left._

* * *

He watches as the soldiers finally leave Saria on the ground, a broken heap, almost dead, and turn their attention to the other girls. He sees the soldiers strip the girls as well and force the them to perform sexual favors with one another for the soldiers entertainment, threatened not with the death of themselves, but with that of their friends. "Touch her right there, in her special spot between her legs," they order as they crowd around to watch. "That's good. Now you lay down under her and you squat over her mouth. Lick it. Go ahead and put your whole tongue into it. See, she likes it. Doesn't that feel absolutely wonderful?" they say. But observing can't satisfy them for long and soon they began to rape the rest of the girls themselves. "Just put it in your mouth," he hears one soldier tell a child kneeling down in front of him as screams can be heard all around them. "There you go darling. You're a natural." Another soldier grabs his spear and makes a wager on how far he can get the blunt end into her before she passes out or dies. Link hears pleas for mercy and watches as the pleas are brutally ignored, or met with nothing more than laughter. He watches as the boys are forced to look on, tied up and unable to do nothing but absorb punishment at random. He sees two bored soldiers have a contest to determine who could crush a little boy's skull first. Link watches them bash the children's faces into large rocks until their heads are nothing but pulp and hears the loser complain that the winner's boy had a head that was too soft, and they should try again. He sees the Great Deku Tree's monolithic corpse lit on fire, and feels the Deku Tree Sprout chopped down as it broadcasts its pain to the other living creatures of the forest, unable to stop itself. Link sees children's houses being torched, some with children still in them, and he smells the air as they are cooked alive, the stench of burned flesh and oil overwhelming. Finally, he sees the children as they are nailed to the wooden posts by the bridge and the soldiers take souvenirs from the children's organs and sections of their skin, all the while amused at their hideous work.

In the blink of an eye, Link witnessed all of the pain they had gone through for days and he found himself on his knees, looking into Mido's unsettling blind gaze once again.

"You had to see why I… You had to know why I had no other choice," Mido gasped, "I'm so sorry Link… I swear by the Great Tree, I'm so sorry."

"What? What are you sorry for?" Link almost screamed at him, overcome by the images and somehow afraid of what Mido was about to say next.

"They said if I… called you here they'd stop hurting the others. They promised… if I called you and told you what they wanted…they'd stop hurting the others. They… said they wanted you here because… they didn't want to have to… deal with you when they went to your house."


	3. What Might Have Been

_It's nearly been a year since this was updated, far too long to leave a story in the same condition unfinished. So I'd like to start out by apologizing to those of you out there who read the first two chapters and expected more. There weren't very many of you, I know, but those of you that there were, I let you down. I realize now that it was mistake to start this when I have so many other things to work on. To a more prolific author, there wouldn't be a problem but I'm unable to differentiate between a promising idea for a story and a promising story for me to write. All that said, here is chapter three, incomplete and imperfect. I've been sitting on it for a while because it never felt right and it still doesn't, but after that I'll outline where I wanted to go with this story from the various notes I already have. I still feel like it's a good idea for a story, now I realize I just can't do it. I will, however, try to show you what I was planning on doing. And even though the rest isn't technically a story, I would appreciate feedback on what it could have been._

**Five Weeks Later**

**Northern Canyons **

"Oh shit…"

The expletive escaped Doran Greylock's lips almost as soon as he regained consciousness but had any other person been in his situation, he was sure they would have done much the same. He awoke disoriented, lying on his side in a world of darkness and confusion. His head throbbed with a dull pain and every inch of his body poured with sweat, such was the intense, dry heat. The earth beneath him was almost scalding to the touch but that was the least of his problems. Where was he? He opened his eyes and for a brief moment he thought he'd been struck blind. The next moment he attempted to stand up and thought himself an invalid. But slowly, reason filled his mind once again and he realized that he was merely blindfolded and bound, rather than sightless and crippled. Quickly, other questions began to circulate among his thoughts, jostling for position to grab his attention. What was going on? Why was he tied up? Who had done this to him? However, the question that actually grabbed his attention at that moment was "what was that sharp object jabbing into his back?"

"So I see you're awake, finally," someone said in a gruff voice, "I've been waiting on you, boy. Thought you'd sleep all day."

Doran cocked his ear toward the sound and suddenly became frightened.

"Wh-who are you?" Doran asked, "what do you want?"

He heard footsteps coming toward him and tried to crawl away, but ended up forcing the unknown object further into his flesh. As it punctured the skin, the man grabbed Doran by his hair roughly and dragged him away from it.

"Don't do that. I didn't track you for three weeks just to see you kill yourself before I could get what I wanted out of you."

Suddenly, Doran realized that he was nude and the worst thoughts his imagination could come up with began to run in front of his eyes. Apparently, the fear must have shown on his face because the man gave a short, bitter chuckle.

"No, boy, nothing like _that_. I just need you to answer a few questions and we'll be done here. How does that sound to you?"

Doran was baffled.

"Uh, sure, that sounds fine. But why go through the trouble of all this?" he asked, his head finally clearing and his memory of last night beginning to come back to him.

* * *

_He lies down in the middle of filthy straw and animal feces as he tries to go to sleep. The disgusting odor of animals is all around him, smothering him, but that's not what's keeping him awake. Needles are sticking into him everywhere, attacking his flesh, but that's not what's keeping him awake. He's trying, so very hard to fall asleep, but he can't. It's not just the uncomfortable surroundings or the fact that he has just committed treason by means of desertion; it's what he's seen and what he knows. It's the images that he witnessed first hand and the screams that begged him for help that he ignored. It's not what he did that haunts him, it's what he didn't do. No man can forget such things, he thinks to himself, no one can just leave that behind himself forever. _

_It is last night, and Doran Greylock cannot sleep. It is night and he is all alone in the stable, all alone in the world. He has run out of rupees and things of value to sell and no innkeeper has the mercy to let him in. He has snuck into a stable and stolen as many oats as his rotting teeth can chew, and as much of the pig slop as his stomach will allow. He is cold and thirsty; he must be the most miserable wretch on the face of Hyrule. _

_He stands up and stretches, realizing that he'll not get any sleep this night, either. It has been four days since slumber has overtaken him, and even then nightmares prevailed over reveries. Yet in dreams the images are less distinct, and he welcomes nightmares to the lifemare his existence has become. _

_It is last night and the clouds cover the moon, hiding its sacred light from view. Doran looks through the window and can see but the faintest of outlines as the moon tries its best to break free. He can see almost nothing, but suddenly he hears the horses in the stable begin to whinny in fright. He turns to go investigate and when he comes upon one of the equine creatures, he pats it on the head and shushes it, calming the beast. Though he is alone in the world, the only consolation Doran has found in these past weeks is among the animals. Hylianity has shunned him at every turn. Rightfully so, he admits. Rightfully so. _

_But then the moon does find a break in the clouds and he is enveloped in the soothing glow. It pleases him for some unknown reason, but he tries to just accept it and enjoy the moment while it lasts. He hears the sound of footsteps behind him, but before he can turn to discover what it is, something heavy is brought down on his head and he descends into darkness once more._

* * *

"So that was you that hit me on the head, wasn't it?" Doran realized as the man took off the blindfold. Blinking, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the bright sun. As he looked down, he finally saw that the object jabbing him had been nothing more than a jagged rock. But then there were rocks all over, scattered about the ground, sharp as any spear. Looking up at the steep walls that were on either side of him, he saw he was in a canyon, still in the North he assumed, but not in a place he recognized or had ever been before. It was hot and barren, but the walls were too steep to see Death Mountain rising above and thus he couldn't find his bearings.

As he looked back in front of him, Doran finally saw his fearsome captor. Standing before him, however, was something different than what he'd imagined. The voice had been husky and rough, but instead of the hulking, snarling scoundrel he'd expected, he saw an ordinary, albeit over-the-hill, man of average height and built. At first glance, the man could have been Doran's own father. He had a neutral expression on his face that was impenetrable, but the eyes held something in them Doran didn't want to look at for very long. Doran averted his own eyes from the man's stare and studied the rest of him closer, trying to figure out what kind of a man he was in the power of. The wrinkles and tanned skin showed he was a man used to working under the sun, and the hands were gnarled and calloused from hard labor. Large veins ran along his exposed forearms and while the man had obviously lost some of his youthful vigor, he by no means looked like a pushover. He was a man who was no stranger to hard work, and looked like one who had devoted his entire life to the pursuit of a singular goal, one that was never finished. A farmer. The man definitely looked like a farmer if he was anything, but he wore a heavy breastplate over a worn out scarlet shirt and had a pair of thick leather pants on to cover his legs. It all looked to be standard military issue, even though they were of an antiquated design and indeed, the breastplate had the insignia of a former King of Hyrule. A veteran, as well. Doran saw the man was carrying no weapons but when he looked a short distance away, he saw the man's armaments: a simple shield and a beautiful sword leaning up against the cliff wall.

"Yeah, I gave you that bump on your skull," the man finally responded, jerking Doran's attention back to him, "But believe me, in a few minutes, you won't even be giving that a second thought."

The man turned and walked over to a plain wooden board. He bent over picked it up off the ground. As the man walked closer, Doran saw that one end had a set of long nails crudely and crookedly driven through it.

"I'm gonna' tell you what I know about you, right off," the man began, "I know you're a soldier in the Hyrulian military and I know that a little over five weeks ago, you, along with the eleven others people, went into the Kokiri Forest. While there, you raped, tortured, and Excruciated as many of the fairy children as you could find. I know this, because I saw it happen. I know that one person –you- deserted your squad and eventually fled to the North while the other eleven men left the forest a few days later and continued… elsewhere. I know that once in the North, you wandered around from town to town until you spent all of your rupees and had to pawn your horse and what little equipment you hadn't already discarded. Finally, I know that you've took up the habit of sneaking into stables and sleeping in them."

He paused and looked Doran in the eyes with an expression so cold, Doran found it difficult to draw breath into his lungs.

"But the thing of it is, I didn't come here because of what I know. I came here because of what I don't know. I came here because of what you know, and the things you're going to tell me. The things you're going to tell me for _your_ sake."

"Please, sir, Doran pleaded earnestly, "I had nothing to do with that. I didn't even touch those kids. I didn't do anything-"

"Yeah, you're right," the man admitted, "You _didn't_ do anything to hurt them and that says a lot about you, boy, it really does. But you didn't do anything to _stop_ the others, and that says a lot, too. You may think you did nothing wrong, but the fact of the matter is that you didn't do anything _right_, and there's a big difference between the two. Inaction certainly isn't the greatest of sins, but it's by far the most common."

"By the Goddesses, I'm sorry," Doran said as genuine tears began to fall down his cheeks, "I swear if I could go back I'd stop them. I'd try to-"

"Hush," the man commanded with gentle force. "Son, there's a lot of things in life we wish we could go back and change, but unfortunately we can't. We just have to deal with the consequences of our actions. This isn't punishment, understand? This is just consequences. You tried to run away from them, but now that they, and I, have caught up with you, you're going to have to deal with them." He patted the board against the palm of his hand. "You're really not a bad kid. I don't think you wanted what happened to happen and it's a shame that you got caught up in all of this but it's a lie to say that you're not just as responsible for it as the others. You were there and you are guilty of their sins because of your cowardice, if not your deeds. I'm against lying and I won't do it to you now. The fact of the matter is that you aren't going to get out of here alive. I _will_ kill you today, and you have to understand that before we go any further. However, I also need you to understand that the manner of your death and the length of it depend solely on you. I'm going to ask you those questions that I need answers to. Tell me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth and you'll be all right. Deviate from this in any way, and I'll let you know it," he said, patting the flat end, "but if you lie to me, boy, if you try to tell me a falsehood you'll meet _this_ end," he said as he pointed to the rusty nails. "This is a simple system and if you accept your fate like the man you should have been that day, you might redeem yourself and die with little pain."

"Oh for the love of Din, don't do this," Doran begged frantically, "Please, I don't deserve this!"

Without warning or a change of expression, the man suddenly swung the board and the soldier felt the nails bite into his shoulder like a viper's fangs.

"Aaaaah!" the soldier screamed out in pain as his shoulder burst into hot fire. The man had no reaction to the Doran's pain, but left the nails in the soldier's flesh for several seconds before he stuck his foot on Doran's chest and pulled it out. Unfortunately, as the nails had not been put through the board straight, when they were pulled back out, chunks of flesh and blood came with it forming a wound as large as a man's fist. Doran fell over and wriggled on the ground in pain, wailing and weeping to express his agony. He cursed, he prayed. He called to the Goddesses, then to whoever might be in hearing distance, and to the man himself, but it did no good.

"That was a lie, boy," the man told Doran even as he did nothing to help, "Those children didn't deserve what happened to them, but you deserve everything you're going to get today and worse. But go ahead and holler. Get it all out. There's no one around her to hear you and we've got a long day ahead of us."

* * *

**Later that day**

Doran raised his bloody head and stared out of his remaining eye, weakly. A nail had caught the edge of the other several hours ago and what was left of it was swelling painfully. The board came down again, knocking him over. He spat out a few more bloody molars before getting jerked upright again by his torn scalp.

"I'm going to keep asking you until you give me the right answer. Where did the others go?"

Doran's thoughts were dulled by pain, but he managed to use his torn lips to speak.

"Ah dun-dun-dun't know," he slurred. Long ago his teeth had snapped shut and bitten through the end of his tongue. He could no longer remember if he'd swallowed it or been able to spit it out.

The man let go of him, and Doran fell on his face, smearing some more blood on the dirt. It ran out of his mouth over his lips and out the slash in his cheek. His hair was slicked wet from the multiple gashes in his head. His face, chest, and back were covered with dark purple bruises. A pain under his ribs made him think -made him hope- that one of his organs had ruptured and that he'd be dead soon, internal bleeding or maybe even shock. The man had recently brought an iron into their "situation," out of necessity. He let one end rest in a campfire then used it to cauterize any outer wound serious enough that he thought Doran might bleed to death out of. There was no hope of relief any more, only a lifetime of pain that would not cease, that would never cease. But for a moment, Doran could lie there and perhaps drift away into nothingness…

Fire erupted in the back of his thigh, spreading from the back of his knee up to his buttocks. He screamed as loudly as his parched voice would allow, before passing out from the pain. In what seemed the next instant, he was awakened not by a feeling, but by the smell of his own burning flesh.

He had his own personal daemon. Doran knew he was doomed to hell, but now he welcomed it. Perhaps there his crimes would not be considered so dreadful that they would warrant such special attention. If he was lucky perhaps his tormentor would have three or four other assignments to steal its attention, now and again.

His daemon pulled itself down close beside him.

"Where can I find them?" the voice whispered in his ear.

"Ah dun-"

"You do know. You know who they are and you know where they'll go. I tracked them south to Vyrnse City before I lost them. They aren't in the city and they didn't go back to Hyrule. They can't go back without their prize. They had to go somewhere to look for it. If you aren't like the rest, why are you protecting them? Why are you still lying to me?"

Doran hadn't thought he was holding anything back before. Throughout it all he'd tried to tell the truth, but it hadn't been enough. The man had forced him to repeat his answers over and over and every time he slipped up, the man informed him of it. Maybe he _was_ holding things back. Maybe he _was_ trying to lie to the man and protect the murderers like himself. He wasn't sure anymore. He could hardly remember anything before today. He knew he'd been born by a woman but he couldn't even remember her face. The pain encompassed his existence. The pain was…

Wait. He remembered something. An image in his mind. Sweaty, raucous laughter. Alcohol, all over the bar. Women all over the men. Men all over the women. Where was it? He wanted to tell the man where it was so badly...

"Thuhs ah bothuh," he said as it came to him.

"A what? A brothel? Where is it? You know exactly where it is. Tell me."

"South p'ains. Be'ow thuh 'ake."

"Lake Hylia, you mean?"

Doran tried to nod and hoped the man noticed.

"Thuhs ah tradun' outpos'. They mught be thur."

"Might be? That's not good enough, Doran, that's not good enough at all. _Will_ they be there?"

"Yeth," he answered with more certainty as his treacherous memory returned to him, "Thuh'll be thur. Thuh sed if theh couldun fine thuh sowd, theh'd go thur an' get thuh smith to mek un."

"Good, Doran," the man commended and he petted Doran's head gently, "We're done here. Get some sleep."

Doran Greylock smiled. He felt pain for a moment as something cut across his throat, then warmth. Still smiling, he let one ragged breath leave him, and as the warmth faded, drifted off into the tender, accepting arms of oblivion.

Link stood up and walked away from the bloody corpse, feeling the twinges of guilt before he shoved them back away from his consciousness. Justice felt no guilt, so neither could he. He wiped the blood off his dagger onto his pants and stuck it back in its sheath. As he retrieved his shovel, a ball of light floated over to him.

"Is it finished?" the light said quietly.

"No, but for this one it is," he said as he began to dig. "You hear what he said?"

"Yes, and the fairies nearest there are investigating as we speak. I must ask though, why did you kill him before we could validate his claims?"

"He was telling the truth, as much as he could. He couldn't lie to me anymore. He didn't want to. But all the same his information may be off, so if he is, it'd be best to get there before the bastards have had a chance to get far away."

"And if they weren't there to begin with?"

"Then we'll just have to keep looking until we find them, won't we? Greylock gave their names, descriptions, and heredity, several times over. They can't hide from me."

"Of course."

The ball of light sped away, and for the next several minutes the only sounds that could be heard were that of digging and physical exertion. When the hole became large enough to suit him, Link dropped the shovel and walked back over to the soldier's body. He grabbed the soldier's ankles, and dragged him over to the hole, grunting.

"I'm not sorry that you're dead, boy, and I'm not sorry I did it. I'm sorry that you did what you did and that you made me do this. If you'd never been in that situation, it's possible you would have done a lot of great things with your life," he stopped as he reached edge of the hole, "Instead, any potential you might have had is ruined. May the Goddesses have more mercy on you than I."

He rolled the corpse into the hole, and started recovering it with dirt.

* * *

Beginning of notes:

Calga Outpost

Scene begins with introduction to a seedy brothel/tavern. Dimly lit, alcohol drenched, generally a nasty place. The focus of the story is on the group of soldiers in the middle of brothel who are taking turns partaking of the women and drinking. Two upstairs with the women, the rest on the first floor. One of the soldiers on the first floor (Amadeus) is talking with a tongue loosened by his drink. He's halfway into his story about what he did to these two bitches on their last assignment and the rest of the drunk soldiers are amused as they've heard it many times before while the few other people still in the tavern obviously could do without it. The guy probably talks about how the blonde girl kept giving them lip when they searched her room until Captain Tanner put her in her place (hit her, bent her over the bed). The soldier talks about how Tanner got to break her in for the rest of them, but Amadeus preferred the redhead who didn't just take it, but got turned on by it so much the others got tired of the blonde and started gangbanging the fiery redhead, who by the way, gave _great_ head. But then Klaud had decided her wanted his dick sucked because amateurs were usually the best at it (so he says at least). Of course he didn't know that the bitch had a knife under her bed and she'd cut him from taint (you know that fleshy bit round yer' asshole) to groin before he'd been able to knock her off of him. Klaud looks up at this point of the story and is still in obvious pain, causing much amusement for the rest of the soldiers. Amadeus continues the story by telling how Tanner had eventually come in and told them to wrap it up as the sword wasn't there. He said they can do what they want with the girls but he's killed the mother and would suggest doing the same with them. Martin and Marius took locks of hair from the girls while Nigel was a bit more morbid and took nipples. Ulprus cut off a slice of the blonde's buttocks for consumption later, the sick fuck. This causes another laugh. Then, as Tanner ordered, they burned the house to the ground and slaughtered the livestock to make it look like the work of marauders.

As Amadeus finishes his tale, it becomes even more apparent that the rest of the establishment doesn't at all like hearing the story but it is equally apparent that they don't want to incur the wrath of the Hyrulian military. So the awkwardness remains among everyone else, even as the soldiers continue to revel. (Maybe one of them points out that there was no point in killing the animals and burning the house if Amadeus was going to blab the story every place they went) A man in the corner gets up to leave, obviously disgusted, but one of the soldiers, Serge, spots him and starts messing with the stranger. "What's the matter old man, don't appreciate our stories?" The stranger looks at Serge with rage knotting in his brows but just says "No, I don't appreciate them one bit." Amadeus joins in and suggests that he's insulted. The stranger says he doesn't give a damn about how a prick like him feels and says if the guy doesn't get his hands off him and step back, he'll regret it. Then the stranger starts for the door again. This time he's stopped by three of the soldiers and before he can ask what's going on, he gets punched in the stomach and goes down. One of them kicks him in the face and he goes over backwards onto the floor. Another stomps on his crotch and when he goes to hold himself, they kick him again in the hands. They all laugh at the stranger in his miserable condition but as Tanner comes back down from upstairs, re-dressing, he tells the soldiers that that's enough, just throw the old man out and make sure he doesn't come back in.

They do, and a conversation takes place between the captain and his men. He warns them not to get into trouble like that needlessly. The man may have some friends or he may come back later and try something. Tanner has been in this part of the country long enough that they allow him certain things, but wanton killing is a stupid waste… unless it comes as a result of an assignment. He likes his men to be satisfied, after all. He informs them that he's done with lovely Nina upstairs so one of them can go get himself satisfied now, if he likes. Zanobi starts heading upstairs but Nigel shoves him down and tells him to wait another turn.

Perhaps a bit more here, but if that's it, the meat is covered and will suffice.

Scene shifts to the stranger outside who is of course Link and a la Unforgiven, he stumbles out into the muddy streets bruised and bloody. As he crawls his way into an alleyway, a ball of light comes near him and asks if he would like to be healed and Link responds that he won't make one of them give their lives over this. He'll be fine in a couple of days and he'll need their sacrifices soon enough. The fairy informs him that all is ready and the armaments he's requested have been delivered to a rustic home in the middle of the wilderness. Link thanks them and says he'll be seeing them on the road to Hyrule when the soldiers decide to leave. Scene is left with Link in horrible pain, but no other introspection into his thoughts is given.

Scene shifts once again, this time to the road to Hyrule as the soldiers have begun their trip back to the castle. They are talking and making fun of Klaud (the one injured by Link's daughter) because he still can't ride a horse in a normal way and the scene is generally jovial, considering it's from the vantage point of sadistic murderers and rapists. Then an arrow whizzes by Captain Tanner's face and everything is brought to a halt. He orders the men to circle until they locate where the bowmen is, but another arrow comes and sticks into Tanner's arm. He yells out in pain and anger before a third arrow buries itself in his throat and he gurgles and dies. The men see that they're being attacked from the edge of the forest and get their horses to lie down so that they can use them as cover. They aren't sure how many archers there are but it's beginning to appear like there's only one, maybe two. The soldiers figure they can either wait for him to run out of arrows then fan out and rush him. As they work out the specifics of the plan, the arrows stop coming. Ince stands up then ducks back down a second later without any retaliation. They decide to go for it and begin their counter-attack but after they get beyond the shelter of their horses, more arrows begin to fly and Marius and Ulprus go down, the former dead the latter only wounded. But by this time, the soldiers have already closed the gap between themselves and the forest and the guy would have to be an expert shot to get them all, something he obviously isn't. The sounds of whisking arrows ceases once again, but it's replaced by another sound and before the soldiers can realize what it is, the bomb comes rolling towards them. Spread out as they are, only Faust is hurt by it, but seriously injured. Another bomb comes out but Amadeus is able to dodge this one but concussion of the blast throws him. Amadeus looks up just in time to see Ince, Martin, and Serge reach the forest edge with swords drawn, only to see it go up in a fiery explosion, with the three aforementioned soldiers caught in it. But then the mysterious assailant steps out of the forest's edge, revealing himself to be the stranger from the tavern/brothel. Amadeus jumps to the wrong conclusion and a conversation about that results. The strangers says Justice would like to have a few words with them. In the end though, it's Amadeus, Nigel, and Zanobi against one man no longer in the prime of his life. All have a sword and shield, but Nigel also brought his long spear, wearing the shield on his back. They position themselves equally around him while he stands in the middle looking around for a sign that one of them is about to attack. Amadeus nods at Nigel and the latter lunges with the spear, but the stranger wheels and blocks the blow away with his shield, leaving himself open for Nigel's sword. But before Nigel can strike the death blow, the stranger fires an odd, spring-loaded mechanical contraption held in his hand, hidden behind his shield. It shoots a metal spike through Nigel's mouth and out the back of his head, killing him. Amadeus and Zanobi immediately lunge from opposite sides then, forcing the stranger to drop the contraption. He blocks one with his shield while parrying the other with his sword. Amadeus kicks the leg of the stranger, forcing him to one knee, and Zanobi immediately stabs the man through the back, then several more times in the back and chest. The man wheezes and dies and Amadeus and Zanobi turn around to survey the damage caused by the man. Most of their comrades have been killed, only Faust, Nigel, and Klaud are still alive. Klaud for whatever reason is still behind the horses, which pisses Amadeus off to no end. Amadeus tells Zanobi he's going to kill that lame bastard on principle.

Before he can go to the coward, however, he hears something odd and looks to see the tip of a sword sticking out of Zanobi's chest. Before he can react, the sword is pulled out and swings toward Amadeus's neck, lopping his head off. The stranger is alive once again, blood stains and all. It is explained, probably from Link's point of view, that a fairy gave its life for him and he was resurrected. Probably a few other things like how he got the bombs and hookshot (a direct plea to Dampe on the part of the Kokiri and his wife and children because he's too old to race anymore). could be left out As this is explained, he goes to each of the injured soldiers and cuts their throats. Later, he brings his horse and wagon down from its hiding place and starts loading the bodies onto the back. When he's done, he throws a canvas over the top of the bodies, climbs into the driver's seat, flicks the reigns, and heads for the privacy of his cottage. End chapter three.

* * *

And that is the end of all that's outlined in a detailed form. In chapter four, Link was to interrogate each of the soldiers with a different method, though only of few of them would have been shown in the story, notably Amadeus and Captain Tanner. Oh yes, that's what all of fairies were for. Each time one of the soldiers died from too much abuse, they'd be brought back to life and the process would start over (one I was especially proud of was letting Tanner rot, and bringing him back to life, full of maggots and other such insects, which, as you might imagine, would be horribly painful). I was working on the soldiers' personalities and backstories for a while but that's no longer important. All that's really important is that they did very bad things. The detailed sequence of the fate of the Kokiri and story in the tavern were intended to make it very clear how Link could do what he did in what would have been chapters 3 and 4. He doesn't torture them for his own benefit; he does it because he wants to know what's going and hold everyone involved accountable. It would be tough to make a character as iconic as Link evil, and it would be wrong anyway. He seems to be a highly moral individual and that is an important character trait that can't be twisted, even after going through all of this. So to make him do "evil" things, his motivation has to fit with his morals, in this case it's taking justice into his own hands.

The main point behind chapter four, besides giving us an insight into the killers' minds and motivation, is why they were looking for the sword at all. Captain Tanner is the last interrogated and most important. Through him it's revealed that he is not just some renegade officer, but a personal friend of the crown prince of Hyrule. Tanner had had the task (by the crown) of leading his band through rebellious areas and disheartening the populace by killing civilians in the most gruesome way possible for the past several years. Argument here being that the deaths of a few dozen civilians saves the lives of hundreds or thousands of soldiers and rebels who would have died in battle if the rebellion ever really took off. Yes, the soldiers Tanner works with have problems but the nature of their assignment means that a person has to be somewhat crazy to do it, or else they'll go crazy. Again, so the argument goes. This was intended to make the nature of what they were doing more ambiguous. Though in the case of the Kokiri and Link's family it's obviously and clear-cut that it's wrong, but doing the same thing to "save lives" is not quite so easily defined. I think most of us would still agree it's wrong on moral grounds, but disregarding morals, it makes a kind of rational sense.

But all that is a side issue to the main revelation that the crown prince has been directing Tanner and his men in everything they've done, including telling him to get the sword. How much of a shock this is to the reader, I have no idea. I probably telegraphed it too much in the first two chapters and definitely would have in the third, but it was to be a bit of a surprise. In any case, it is to Link. Link asks why Tanner went to the Kokiri instead of just coming to his house to take the sword by force. Tanner says that as he was leaving the castle, he was instructed by a rider on a black horse to go to the Kokiri first, call Link there, then get the sword while he was gone. Tanner doesn't know who the person was or how they were able to navigate the Lost Forest, but the rider had the royal seal and knew about the assignment, so Tanner figures the guy came from the prince.

This brings up the question, "Why does the prince want the sword at all?" Link is still rather incredulous due to his former trust of Hyrule, but that trust is quickly beginning to wane. Tanner doesn't know why the prince wanted the sword, only that he started wanting it after talking with a couple of witches. When the prince came back, he was quite mad but he wouldn't tell them why.

Chapter four would end with Tanner taunting Link by saying Link is no better than they all are, torturing people so long as the ends justify the means. Link would disagree saying his torture is the ends, punishment for evil, not the means. Then he leaves Tanner to his slow, painful death. Then the story shifts to Hyrule Castle and follow the prince, albeit through the eyes of one of his guards.

I don't know whether you caught it or not but by the math if Link was one of the two soldiers featured in the first chapter (and he was) he'd be the confident captain, not the doubting footman. So chapter five catches up with the footman who followed a very different path from Link. Aldon is his name. He's still a good man, as to be shown by his reactions to some of the things the prince has done, and totally loyal, which is probably his greatest fault.

Aldon is still a soldier, but instead of being a frontline guy anymore, he's part of the royal guard and personal protector of the prince. (Before I forget, I never actually came up with a good name for the prince so his title will have to do for this outline of what might have been, I'm afraid.) Anyway, this soldier has been taking care of the prince for some time now, more of an escort than a bodyguard because the prince also has a sheikah who performs that function. Basically, Aldon stands outside of the prince's door and goes with him even when the prince is out and about. Over the years, this soldier has gotten to know the prince quite well and he invites his new partner (the previous one having died of mysterious circumstances) for a couple of drinks in an alehouse in the market surrounding castle Hyrule. The old soldier (he'd be about fifty here) asks the younger guy (no name) about himself. A short explanation of the partner's life and path to becoming part of the castle guard follows. Exemplary combat record, new to the palace life. The two of them talk about various things, the conversation revealing the subtler aspects of their personalities, but none of it crucial in a plot sense.

The main focus of this chapter, though, is the wandering bard who comes inside to entertain the crowd inside with his wild and fantastical tales from all over the land. All is fine and good, both guards enjoy themselves and laugh at appropriate times. Then the bard announces that his last tale is of the rumors surrounding the Prince's conception and birth, and the old guard quietly informs the young that they're going to have to do something to shut him up. The young guard starts to get up, but the older pushes him back down and explains that it would look suspicious and possibly be dangerous to haul him away in front of so many people. More importantly, it would provide credence to the bard's story if others had heard it before. Aldon guard explains that they'll wait until he gets done and pick him up then.

And the bard's story is this: After the death of princess Zelda's father, King Hyrule, there was much pressure on the newly crowned Queen Zelda and her husband King Regalia, to make an heir to the throne so as to avoid the confusion and apprehension that has often felled past monarchies when there is no clear successor. Though never spoken of, it was widely known that the king was having difficulties in the royal bedroom and for seven years they were unsuccessful. Then something changed, though no one knows exactly what that change was. It is known that nine months to the day before the prince's eventual birth, a terrible windstorm blew in from the north and that from that day until the prince's birth, there was not a drop of rain to be had within twenty miles of the castle. It is also known that on the day of the prince's birth, that awful drought ceased and a great downpour fell across the land. The palace announced that this was a sign of great joy, the prince's life would surely be marked by all manner of good tidings. And if this was the whole story, perhaps that would be true. However the bard has heard a very different version of the day's events from someone inside the palace when it happened. The downpour did not come when the prince was born; it came when he died.

You see the prince was born feet first and suffocated before he could be fully removed from the womb. When the queen heard this, she was said to have whispered "Thank Farore." The midwife then took the dead infant to what would have been his room, placed him in a carriage, and left the room. A few hours later, they heard crying coming from the room and investigated only to discover that the child was alive once again. A miracle, indeed.

The bard finally finishes his story and leaves the alehouse. The two soldiers pick the bard up, and he protests that he is free to tell tales wherever he likes in Hyrule; they have no right to censor him. Aldon agrees, but says that slander is not allowed. It was Nayru Zelda thanked, not Farore. Then they take the bard and haul him off to the castle Hyrule's dungeon. This sets up the next chapter which is getting a closer view of the prince and his personality.

No need to describe exactly what things the prince was doing here and perhaps it would have been too much had I written it out anyway. We see what kind of a man the prince is and see what kind of a man Aldon is by contrast; Aldon will help the prince in his sadistic vices and do nothing to stop him, but unlike Tanner, Aldon does not enjoy it. As far as plot goes, this is also an important chapter because it's learned that even though King Regalia is still alive and issuing decrees and such, he's deathly ill and in fact hasn't spoken a sensible word in years. He's being kept alive on what you could call "magic life support." Physician/mages work to preserve the king long past his natural lifespan. But few people know this. The prince goes to "speak" with his father to learn how he feels about various issues. Of course this is all a sham and the prince is running the country. Also important to note, the prince is on _very_ poor relations with his mother. And if I haven't mentioned it yet or it hasn't been implied, the prince is the king and queen's only child.

After that I'm not quite sure what I wanted to do with it. I know where I wanted to go, but not whose eyes to use to see it. The situation would be explained (either in this chapter or a referenced in a previous one) that once the Gerudo were dislodged from their fortresses, they eventually relocated to the infamous Spirit Temple/Desert Colossus in the middle of the desert. They made a pact of some sort with the twin witch sisters Koume and Kotake and have been held up in the fortess for years, successfully defending the colossus with a combination of Gerudo (wo)manpower and witch magic. The Hyrulian military, although quite skilled at siege campaigns, has suffered disastrous campaign after disastrous campaign because of the hardy defenses at the colossus and their own supply lines, horribly stretched by the distance away from Hyrule proper and desert sandstorms. However, it's become an issue of pride with the prince and as soon as one campaign ends in utter and embarrassing defeat, and new one is prepared and launched. Needless to say, thousand of good men are being lost in a waste, and the kingdom is weaker than many realize.

Koume and Kotake might take center stage here, though I'm not sure what the world would look like from their perspective. In any matter, they are gifted with prophecy and in scientific terms, they know all things that they will ever know at all moments. It isn't quite omniscience, but they have access to their entire memory and knowledge at all times from all times. It doesn't mean they can change what will happen, it just means that they can accurately prophesy the future, especially when it pertains to them. So when they make the prophecy that only a hero who wields the Master Sword can vanquish them, naturally the prince is very perturbed. This at its root is the reason why the prince sent his soldiers out to find the master sword but it's not until later in the story that we discover how he found out who had it and how the soldiers were able to pass through the Lost Woods.

So eventually Link is going to end up at the Desert Colossus, though there would probably have been a scene involving those soldiers camped out in front of the Colossus and their pitiful condition. He's going to meet up with Nabooru who doesn't remember Link at all, or at least doesn't remember him favorably. She had been captured by the witches but released from their spell as per the conditions of the Gerudo's/witches' agreement. Eventually Link begins to speak with the witches who make up the meat of this section. They explain in very confusing terms their nature of prophecy (as described above) and the fact that they remember how Link slayed them once before, albeit in a different time line. But they bear no regret for it. Instead they explain why it is that the prince sent the soldiers after the sword (again, above) but they don't know how the prince found out Link had the sword. Link makes an outburst about what happened to the Kokiri and his family as a result, and they are sad but admit that they knew. They explain that he always wanted to be the Hero of Time and he was needed now so they had to do something to force him into action. Link is almost overcome with emotion, admits that he wanted to be the hero of time but not like this. Almost mechanically, tears streaming down his face, he shoves the sword through Kotake's chest, then follows the action by cutting off Koume's head. Both die together and as their spirits rise (invisible to all but Link) they express grief for Link's family but maintain that they did what had to be done. Then they ascend and disappear.

After this I'm not so sure what happens. After he kills the witches, does he join up with the Gerudo and defeat the remaining Hyrulian forces outside? How this would be accomplished and why he'd join with them like that seems a stretch, so maybe the Gerudo just decide to use the opportunity to attack the weakened Hyrulians without him before they realize the witches are gone. Yes, that works.

In any event, Link now knows that he has to strike against the crown itself, which is a tough barrier to cross considering his former allegiance to it and especially his allegiance to Zelda. The ultimate goal is that he storms the castle with an army made up of the various displaced races, though not at the lead as that's just too cliché and doesn't work for me, anyway. Link may be a hero and great man, but I can't see him as a leader of anything, unless he does it by example alone. Maybe he helps convince these races due to his former contact with them, but someone else must be the general. A couple of chapters would address Link's relationship with Ruto (almost making how he finds where the rest of the Zora have been a side issue). I'm not real comfortable on pushing bestiality, even anthropomorphous bestiality, and besides, a romantic relationship is only slightly more likely than a physical one, slim as opposed to none. Link loves Malon and Zelda, though not necessarily in that order, and there's no room for Ruto. So Ruto would love him, being destined to marry and all that, but not really in a passionate way. More like, Ruto pretends to love him because that's kind of the relationship she's always had with him. But this is less a plot element (even though it's part of the reason Link is able to convince the Zora to come out of their hiding) and more a way to develop characters and show that development. The Gorons would need little convincing, considering the state they're in, and the Gerudo would probably have to be held back.

So there Link arrives near the castle part of a sizeable army. Link has two sages (Ruto and Nabooru) while Hyrule has another two (Raidu and Impa) and two (Darunia and Saria) are dead. Link has one piece of the triforce, Zelda another, and the last has disappeared with Ganandorf. A third on one side, a third on the other, and a final third unable to participate.

A ferocious battle occurs in the plains surrounding Hyrule castle and in the city, in several stages. There is one army inside the city but the army Link is with can't attack it because of the garrison of troops using what was once the Lon Lon Ranch. If they try to assault the city, the garrison will come at them from behind and the rebels will have no chance. So, perhaps in a flashback conversation between Link and Ingo, it is revealed that there is a secret back entrance into the ranch and Link leads a small team there one night to see if it still exists. It does, and they let more warriors in from the inside; hell is raised. The main Hyrulian forces taken care of, the battle is now much easier, but still difficult as Hyrule Army has access to a number of advanced armaments such as artillery and rudimentary muskets as well as natural weapons like trained Dodongos. All would have provided an excellent battle scene as they fought through the first army, then the city streets, and finally attack a well-defended castle, going hallway to hallway in search of the prince.

Link would of course be the one to pursue the prince, but he'd have to go through the prince's sheikah first, which Link would kill but be badly wounded in the process. All makes for the dramatic show down between Link and the prince, Link seriously wounded, the prince in good (physical) health. Link would prevail but be suffering from a horrible wound in his abdomen as well as many smaller ones. He's dying and he knows he is, but he goes to see Zelda one last time.

Impa stops him from seeing her and he knows he can't beat another sheikah in his condition, but Nabooru has also survived and the two female warriors begin an epic struggle of their own, quickly moving out of scene. Link has a conversation with Zelda and it's revealed here who is at fault for most of the story. Zelda had told the prince that Link was in possession of the Master Sword and Zelda is also the one who opened up the Lost Forest without imagining the repercussions. She explains that she was trying to save his life and is very sorry for all that happened. But Link is the personification of Justice and this isn't enough for him. He ends up striking Zelda down and, as the chaos and fire rages all around him, he picks up the ocarina of time and plays the notes that will carry him back in time to undo all that happened.

But this isn't the end of the story.

As he does this, he meets with the three goddesses whom he cannot comprehend or perceive, but on some level he perceives them as three forces who are one and who are totally separate, and his mind can't handle such things.

A discourse between the two would begin with Link angrily accusing them of all sorts of things, venting his rage that they had the power to stop everything that happened but didn't, ultimately building up to the blasphemous arrogance of trying to question gods but finding the responses he gets totally overwhelm him (a la the latter bit of Job). After all of this theological nonsense, they tell Link that he can go back to any time he likes, even the days he was a boy, but the prince's destiny is clearly set before him and he will make the same choices. Killing the only heir will plunge the kingdom into an even more bloody civil war that will reach until the tenth generation of the future until it is settled. Link knows that King Regalia isn't the prince's real father, but he doesn't know who the real father is so he can't kill the father and let Zelda marry someone else to take care of things that way either. Link doesn't have the viewpoint of the goddesses but they're giving him the ability to decide the fate of the world. All he knows is that what will come from Zelda will ruin the world. He also knows that King Hyrule was still a virile king until his death and only the death of his queen prevented him from siring more children. So he makes his choice. He returns to a time shortly after he'd saved the three races and goes to see Talon on the Lon Lon Ranch. He retains all of his memories and mental capacities so that when he speaks with Talon, the older man regards the boy as a joke. Then Link reveals to Talon something about Talon's deceased wife that he's never told anyone and won't tell anyone for many more years, this being made clear in a bit of narration. Talon finally listens and Link tells him to tell his daughter that he (Link) loves her more than words can say and he can't thank her for all of the wonderful years and five children she gave him. He wants Talon to tell her that for all of his love, he could never love her with all of his heart and for that, he'll always be sorry. He's sorry that he won't be able to be there for her when she grows into the wonderful woman he knows she'll be, but he knows that another man, a better man, will make her even happier than he ever could. He leaves and as an afterthought, he tells Talon to take good care of Epona as she's a good horse and the best steed of any time.

Link the child makes his journey to Hyrule castle and is greeted by Zelda the child who remembers the non-future of Ganondorf but does not remember the events of the future that would be (I'd explain this as her future self from the prince's timeline died, and with it died all of her memories from that period). They talk and she agrees to meet him in secret. There explains to her everything that's going to happen to him, to her, and because of her. She is appalled and can't believe it but he hushes her and tells her that none of it will come to pass. She asks how this will be and he answers he by drawing his sword and plunging it through her chest. Impa arrives a moment after and throws the boy to the floor but it's too late. Princess Zelda is dying and the distraught Impa demands to know why a boy like him would do such a thing. Link says she wouldn't understand and cuts his own throat.

The six sages live, the triforce dies, and the fourth catastrophe of the races occurs, this one affecting the Hylians, the motives never explained and any rational link between the four never discovered.

And that's the first ending, a downer, granted, but the story is pretty much a series of downers piled on top of one another. A more fan-friendly would go along the lines that Link convinces Zelda to relinquish her throne and marry him. They start their own family, but it's bittersweet because he's still lost Pytor, Arkhander, and Jasha, and the two girls he and Zelda had named Sharon and Lauron can't replaced his two angels. As for Zelda, he's happy with her and he loves her, but it feels like an affair and he can never shake that feeling, no matter what he does. This would be told when Link is in his sunset again, living far away from Hyrule. And this story would end with him out in the field, doing finishing a day of backbreaking work as twilight disappears into night.

Ah, it appears the best I can do is bittersweet, I suppose. Well, I can't even do that since I couldn't finish this. It was too ambitious, too long, and too involved for a person of my work ethic to start, let along finish. I like this story, I love what it might have been, but sadly, it's just a disappointment now. I wanted to do something different, something meaningful, but I couldn't do it. All that's here is a bunch of torture scenes, some meaningless sex and meaningless violence with only a hint of something more. I failed, that's clear enough. The upside is that I only failed the handful of people who actually cared about this story and with luck most of them have forgotten. If I ever get inspired, I'll do my best to finish this story but I'm not getting my hopes up, and no one else should either. So thanks for the support I was given, and I apologize one last time for disappointing.


End file.
